Archives for March 2004

Is it too much to hope that the subtleties of Ian Buruma’s straightforward essay, “Killing Iraq With Kindess,” could form the basis for a Bush policy reversal on the war in Iraq? Of course. EmailFacebookTwitterReddit

Amid the Irish tunes and the St. Paddy’s Day celebrations and all the world’s parades, when even the Chicago River turns green, the U.S. presidential campaign has gone from attack ads to attack limericks. Republican National Committee Chairman Ed Gillespie released this tribute to Democratic nominee John Kerry: There once was a man from Nantucket Whose […]

Yes, Virginia, Saddam Hussein posed an “immediate threat” to the United States. That’s why we had to invade Iraq. That’s what our Maximum Leader and his minions told us in the runup to the Iraq war. Now, however, they deny they ever said it. Really. You were dreaming if you thought you heard them say […]

Abbie Conant will perform William Osborne’s “downtown” music tonight at REDCAT in Frank Gehry’s Walt Disney Hall complex in Los Angeles. Her program, “The Wired Goddess and Her Trombone,” will include the world premiere of “Cybeline,” a music theater collaboration with Osborne, as well as “Pond,” another of their collaborations, along with “Hysteria” by Cindy Cox, “Love Song Without Words” […]

Later today, ArtsJournal editor Doug McLennan will post a commentary on American and European cultural funding by William Osborne, the composer-social activist-musicologist whose “downtown” music will be performed Tuesday at REDCAT in Frank Gehry’s Walt Disney Hall complex in Los Angeles. The commentary is typical of Osborne — probing, thorough, scholarly and provocative. Get a preview of it now: “Marketplace […]

Reflecting on Ernest Hemingway’s “fierce and foul-mouthed tirade” against his literary rivals in a 1925 letter going on the auction block, a reader who calls himself Clark Kent writes: Hemingway’s letters — 900 pages or so, and a hell of a lot left out — are great fun. He’s relaxed, funny, mean-spirited, paranoid, vicious when […]

The inaugural season at the Walt Disney Concert Hall is not all Esa-Pekka Salonen and the Los Angeles Philharmonic or, for example, Alfred Brendal and Midori giving separate Beethoven recitals. Ornette Coleman and Sonny Rollins get into act. Even Arlo Guthrie and the Klezmatics made it onto the hall’s eclectic schedule.But for cutting-edge music, dance […]

Our famously disengaged Maximum Leader may be a know-nothing statesman, but when it comes to getting elected, Elisabeth Bumiller reports, “Friends who have talked with the president in recent weeks say he is consumed by the campaign, the polls and Mr. Kerry.” With all due respect for the office Bush holds but none for the office-holder and […]

Urban legends and similar inventions have to start somewhere. But tracing how they began is usually guess work and finding the identity of their authors generally leads to a dead end. So it was a pleasure to hear from George Hunka, who nailed down the origin and source of the anonymously written list in Newspaper Wit […]

Terry Teachout blogged about Wednesday night’s ArtsJournal.com gathering at the Landmark Tavern in Manhattan. It would be nice if the site’s future turns out as predicted in his report.Here’s what The New York Sun reported Friday in The Knickerbocker column. EmailFacebookTwitterReddit

A reader writes: “I don’t know where this is from, but I thought you’d enjoy it.” Pentagon officials now believe they have been unable to locate Osama Bin Laden because he has been hiding in a place where: 1. It’s easy to get in if you have the money;2. No one will recognize or remember […]

We know there’s nothing new under the sun. Ditto on the Internet. < FONT color=#003399>Newspaper Wit and Wisdom turns out to have been around for years with minor variations and some additions, i.e.: “The Seattle Times is read by people who spill coffee all over it.” But the basic list was posted on Sept. 17, 2000, […]

This “reader-response criticism” of the daily press just arrived in an e-mail message, and it’s too good not to share: 1. The Wall Street Journal is read by the people who run the country.2. The Washington Post is read by people who think they run the country.3. The New York Times is read by people who think they should […]

To extol the virtues of the Internet is to report the obvious: It’s old news. But every day brings a fresh reminder of its value. Have a look at Newsweek.com’s slide show of an exhibition at the AXA Gallery in New York called “They Still Draw Pictures: Children’s Art in Wartime from the Spanish Civil War […]

It’s good to see The New Yorker’s Hendrik Hertzberg back in top form. He’s not the first to argue that Ralph Nader shouldn’t run for president — it’s hard to be first in a weekly magazine — but he marshals his reasons, while still heaping praise on Nader, with a cogency I haven’t read elsewhere. … […]

Speaking of the Times … it ain’t easy reporting the Oscar show, as Sharon Waxman proved with her deadline coverage. She got Peter Jackson’s nationality wrong, calling him an Australian — all those New Zealand jokes notwithstanding. She got the number of Sean Penn’s Oscar nominations wrong. It’s four, not three. Trivial errors to be sure. […]